Virginia commission recommends lawmakers revisit AI chatbot regulations | 13newsnow.com

Virginia's latest contribution to the AI governance genre is a commission that reviewed chatbot proposals *after* they died during the 2026 legislative session, then recommended that lawmakers perhaps revisit them. That is not regulation; that is a coroner's report with a forwarding address. The proposals are dead, the session is over, and the commonwealth has produced six general principles, which is roughly what you get when a committee is asked to describe a problem without upsetting anyone who owns a server. It is the legislative equivalent of putting a bookmark in a book you have no intention of finishing.

Among those six principles: mitigating extreme harm to users, requiring transparency and accountability, and engaging affected communities. Notice the verbs — mitigating, requiring, engaging — all safely gerund-shaped, all compatible with doing absolutely nothing until the next session. 'Extreme harm' is the phrase you use when you want to sound serious but not specific enough to trigger a lobbyist's calendar invite. 'Transparency and accountability' is the pair you invoke when you would like credit for both without committing to either. Somewhere a chatbot is politely explaining it cannot give medical advice while quietly doing exactly that, and Virginia's answer is a recommendation to consider a recommendation.

The commission's real achievement is proving you can hold a review after the patient has died and still call it a review. Six principles, three of them named, and a firm suggestion that lawmakers revisit the issue when they have a moment — presumably after they've handled the urgent business of naming a bridge. If this is the frontier of AI safety, the frontier is a waiting room with decent carpet and a stack of old magazines. The chatbots will keep chatting, the extreme harm will keep being mitigated in theory, and Virginia will keep its principles warm for the next session. Chin up: at least the affected communities were engaged. In what, exactly, remains a matter for a future commission.